Improvement in knitting-machines



-Fzyl L PETERS, PHOTGLITHUGRAFHEIL WASHINGTON. D (D4 Usirrne STATESPATENT Ormea.

WILLIAM W. CLAY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 55,24] dated June 5,1866.

vTo all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, W. W. CLAY, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain Improvements in Knitting Machines; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full,

clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention consists of certain mechanism, fully described hereinafter,whereby a Jacquard apparatus is caused to so act on the needles of aknitting-machine that ornamental fabrics can be produced.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to make and usemyinvention, I will now proceed to describe its construction andoperation.

On reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of thisspecifica-tion, Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of my improvedknittingmachine, and Fig. 2 a plan view, partly in section.

A is a metal frame, at opposite edges of which are formed two parallelguides, a a', and between the latter is secured a bed-plate, B, in thecenter of which is a narrow slit or opening, x.

In the bed-plateis a series of parallel grooves, c, adapted for thereception of double-ended self-acting needles C, and in each grooveslide two carriers, D and D', one of which is on each side of theopening x, each carrier having a lug, d, at its upper edge and a hook,e, at the inner end.

In the bed-plate B, at opposite sides of the opening d, slide two seriesof vertical rods, j' and j", the upper end of each rod projecting intoone of the grooves c, and the lower end bearin g on the upper edges of ahorizontal bar, F or F', which is arranged to slide in the frame A, andat the inner end of which is an enlargement, i, there being as many ofthe bars F and F' as there are carriers D and D'.

To each bar and to the frame A is secured a spring, k, which tends todraw the bar inward, and to the outer end of each bar are secured cordsZ, which are so connected to a Jacquard apparatus that when one ofthebars,

F, is drawn outward the opposite bar, F', will be moved inward, and viceversa.

On the guides a a', and on the guide-bars E E', secured to projections Jand J of the frame A, slides a plate, Gr, to the under side of which aresecured cams H H' I I', the edges ofthe latter (shown by dotted lines,Fig. 2) bearin g against the projections d of the carriers D D', and thecams being` so formed that as the plate Gr is moved back and forth thesaid carriers will be moved in the grooves e to and from the openlng Inthe projections J J slide bars K K' K", to each of which is secured athread-guide, L, and to the bar K" is secured an additional guide, L',the lower ends of all the guides projecting through an opening in thecenter of the plate G and over the opening x in the bedplate.

In brackets M M', secured to the plate G, slide two bars, N N', andinthelatter slides a transverse plate, O, in which is a spring-catch, h.In the under side of each bar K K' K" is a recess, a, adapted for thereception of the spring-catch h, and to each projection J J' of thisframe are secured two adjustable plates, m m', for a purpose describedhereinafter.

The bars F' are rst drawn outward, and the bars F are movedinward totheposition shown in Fig. 1. In doing this the enlargements 1l of thebars F' are brought beneath the rods f', which, together with the carriers D', are elevated, and the hooks of the latter are above therange of the needles, while the rods j' are lowered and the hooks ofthecarriers D brought within the range of those of the needles.

The spring-catch 7L is then brought into the recess a in the bar K byadjusting the plate O, so that as the plate Gr is moved back and forthit will carry with it the bar K and its guide L.

As the plate Gr is operated the carriers D, with the needles to whichthey are hooked, will be moved by the cams on the plate Gr back andforth in the grooves c, and the thread y on the guideL will be carriedonto the hooked ends of the needles and formed into loops on the same ina manner too well known to those skilled in this class of machinery toneed description.

As the plate Gapproaches either of the pro` jections J or J' the ends ofthe bars N N' will strike the adjustable pla-tes m m', and the motion ofthese bars, of the plate 0, and of the bar K will be arrested, whilethat of the plate Gr' is continued, so that on the return motion of theplate the carrier L will be in advance of the cams H I, and will lay thethread on the needles before the latter can be operated by the saidcams.

When it is desired to introduce into the fabric a new thread of adifferent color from that previously employed, the new thread is passedthrough the eyes of the guide attached to the bar K, and the plate O isadjusted so that the spring-catch 71. is brought into' the recess a ofthe said bar, when the latter, with its guide, will be operated in placeof the bar K and its guide, the new threadbeing carried onto the needlesand knitted to the fabric already formed.

In order to form a fabric with longitudinal stripes of different colors,the spring-catch 7L is brought into. the recess in the bar K, and twodifferentcolored threads are passed through the eyes of the two guidesattached to the said bar, when the machine is operated as before. As,however, each guide L L should pass over onlya portion of the needies,the plates m m should be so adj usted that the ends of the bars N N maystrike the same as soon as the guides have been moved to the extentrequired.

So long as the needles are all operated by the carriers on one side ofthe opening m a plain fabric will be produced; when, however, one ormore needles are transferred to the opposite side of the opening w thestitches formed by these needles will be thrown to the opposite side ofthe fabric, and will produce ribs or elevations on the same.

The transfer of the needles from one side of the opening to theother iseffected in the following manner: When a bar, F, is drawn outward andthe opposite bar, F, is pushed inward by the operation of the Jacquardapparatus, the rod f is elevated and the rod f is lowered, so that whenthe carrierD is again moved forward it will slide over the end of therod f, and will be thus raised from contact with the needle, theopposite hooked end of which slides beneath the hooked end of theopposite carrier, D. The needle is operated by the carrier D as long asthe carrier D is elevated by the movement of the bars F F. When,however, the carrier D is depressed and the carrier D is again elevatedthe needle will be transferred across the opening to its first position.

As the transfer of the needles from one side of the opening w to theother is effected by the movement ofthe bars F F and as the latter areoperated by the Jacquard apparatus, it will be apparent' that by the useof suitably-prepared cards a fabric of almost any desired pattern may beproduced. In some cases I connect the bar O to the jacquard, so that thelatter' may regulate the movement of the said plate and the dispositionof the colors in the fabric.

Without confining myself to the precise construction and arrangement ofparts herein described,

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. Thecombination of the needles C, car riers D D', a Jacquard apparatus, andthe within-described devices or their equivalents, whereby the needlescan be transferred from one carrier to another by the'operation of theJacquard apparatus, for the purpose described.

2. The guides L L', in combination with the within-described devices ortheir equivalents and with a Jacquard apparatus, for the purposespecified.

3. The bars K K K, with theirI threadguides L L and recesses a, incombination with the adjustable plate O and spring-catch h, or itsequivalent, the whole being arranged and operatin g as and for thepurpose set forth.

In testimony whereofI have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

WM. WMS. CLAY.

Witnesses:

CHARLES E. FosrER, JOHN WHITE.

